By Patrick McGeehan< br>

Gov. David A. Paterson announced on Friday that he had nominated Christopher O. Ward, a former executive with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, to be the authority’s executive director. Mr. Ward, 53, would succeed Anthony E. Shorris, who was appointed to the job last year by Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Mr. Ward, who was working for the Port Authority on 9/11 and was at the trade center that morning, has a master’s degree in theology from the divinity school at Harvard University.

He said in an interview that one of his first tasks would be to review the plans for rebuilding ground zero “to make sure that the projects move forward in the best possible manner.” His education could be helpful there, he said, because “understanding faith and hope is important.”

He said he hoped to start at the Port Authority this month after its board of commissioners approves his appointment. His salary as executive director would be $286,702.

The governor of New York traditionally selects the executive director of the agency, while the governor of New Jersey normally picks the chairman of the authority’s board.

Mr. Ward dropped his plan of pursuing a doctorate in theology and worked for government agencies in the city for more than 20 years. He was an executive of the Port Authority from 1997 to 2002, managing the establishment of a toll increase in 2001 and the planning of the AirTrain to Kennedy International Airport. He was the authority’s chief of planning and external affairs when he left to become the commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

He left the Bloomberg administration in 2005 to be the chief executive of American Stevedoring, a port operator. He is currently the managing director of the General Contractors Association of New York.

In a statement, Governor Paterson said: “Chris Ward has developed extraordinary skills during his long career in both the public and private sectors. I believe he will provide the visionary leadership needed to build and maintain a first-rate transportation and infrastructure system for the 21st century.”